Baby swings are used extensively by infant caregivers to soothe and to comfort the children. An infant swing consists primarily of a seat that securely holds the infant in a position elevated off the floor and a frame apparatus that supports the seat and allows the seat to move in a reciprocal manner, typically in a forward and rearward direction though some infant seats provide a side to side swinging motion. Such swings provide a comfortable, safe and entertaining environment to the child.
When caring for an infant, it is extremely advantageous to be able to provide an environment that minimally disturbs the infant when they are resting or sleeping. The necessity to physically move an infant out of one seat and place them in another seat is usually agitating to the infant. Additionally, having the versatility to be able to provide a swinging motion to the specific seat an infant is occupying is also valuable. Therefore, having a swing that would allow either a carrier or a car seat to be directly attached to it would provide the caregiver with the option of being able to provide a swinging motion to the infant without moving the infant from one seat to the other. One such convertible swing system can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,017,088, issued on Jan. 25, 2000, to William Stephens, et al, in which a seat member is detachably mounted on a base member through a locking mechanism.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a mechanical interface connection on a swing hanger system to which either a car seat or baby carrier can be attached. This mechanical interface connection allows the caregiver to directly attach either a car seat, or an infant carrier to the hanger system to transfer a sleeping child from one support system to a swing system.
The lift handle in U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,476, issued to Timothy Paine on May 4, 1993, is formed in a bifurcated manner with a longitudinal link extending between the two portions of the lift handle to provide the caregiver with the option of gripping the lift handle with the hand turned to grasp the longitudinal link. Similarly, the lift handle is formed with a longitudinal grip member at the bight portion in U.S. Pat. No. 6,017,088, issued on Jan. 25, 2000, to William Stephens, et al, and in PCT Publication WO 96/12429, published on May 2, 1996, to enable the caregiver to grip the lift handle with the hand turned in a more natural and less stressful orientation. U.S. Pat. No. 6,561,577, granted to Joseph Kelly on May 13, 2003, discloses a positionally adjustable lift handle, but does not provide a dual lifting function when the handle is lowered to a folded position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,806, granted on May 14, 1985, to Quentin McDonald, et al discloses an infant carrier having a lift handle pivotally attached to the opposing sides of the frame of the infant seat such that the lift handle can be positioned in an upwardly extending operative position and a lowered inoperative position. The opposing sides of the infant seat is formed with handle grips that are independent of the lift handle and can be used to lift the infant seat whether the lift handle is raised or lowered. The design of a carrying handle, which can be used on an infant seat, is disclosed in U.S. Design Pat. No. D451,714, granted to Richard Cone II on Dec. 11, 2001, wherein the handle is formed with openings located above the pivot point of the handle for aesthetic purposes. Because the openings are located above the pivot of the carrying handle, these openings would be located below the top surface of the infant seat when the carrying handle is pivoted into a lowered, inoperative, folded position. Thus, this carrying handle would not provide a dual function for lifting the infant seat when folded, assuming that the carrying handle were placed on an infant seat.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a recline mechanism for a swing system that could be actuated with a single hand. It would further be desirable to provide a recline mechanism that would be housed within the hanger system on which a removable seat member can be detachably mounted. It would also be desirable to provide a lift handle for the seat carrier that is operable to provide a dual lift function, including the normal upright, operative position, but also including the lowered, folded position.